Lee County's politically popular 20/20 conservation fund is close to dipping below its required funding level, raising questions about future acquisitions of conservation land in an era of booming development.

Conservation activists are concerned the Board of County Commissioners may not consider buying and preserving conservation land is as important as it once was. The most recent major land purchase through 20/20 was the acquisition of the 3,900-acre Edison Farms property for $42 million last year.

"We've done more the last two years with 20/20 than the county has done in the past 10 years as far as acquiring property," said County Commission Chair Cecil Pendergrass at a recent commission workshop.

Pendergrass cast doubt over whether there is much more land to be bought by the 20/20 program, or whether the county should concentrate on upgrading land it acquired.

A 457-acre segment of a failed Lehigh Acres development is in line to become part of Lee County's Conservation 20/20 program, if a price can be negotiated.(Photo: LEE PROPERTY APPRAISER)

"All the properties are either being used or they're going to sell it, we're almost at the point where if you look at a map of Lee County, we've almost exhausted ourselves, where how many more parcels can be qualified for 20/20," Pendergrass said.

Voters may have a different perspective, as 84 percent of the electorate endorsed the 20/20 program in the last countywide election.

For the second time in six weeks, commissioners will discuss the program's financial picture at a workshop session in mid-May. Funding, including meeting a county ordinance requirement for a minimum $40 million balance, is the formal topic.

Money for the 20/20 program comes from the property tax rate. The minimum funding level was adopted as the county moved away from dedicating 50 cents per thousand dollars valuation from the property tax directly to 20/20.

Barbara Manzo, a retired director of the county parks and recreation department, and head of the watchdog Eyes on 20/20 group is worried that the direction of the program may shift away from putting more land in conservation.

"Eyes on 20/20 is very concerned that we are going to witness a general change in the entire system," Manzo said. "It's more than just the methodology of replenishing the funds, it’s the philosophy of the board that’s next."

A county ordinance sets the rules for 20/20 and specifies that the program must be funded with not less than $40 million nor more than $100 million.

The ordinance states that "once the fund balance drops below this amount ($40 million), the county will replenish the fund."

County Attorney Richard Wesch told commissioners he interprets that language to mean the commissioners can vote to replenish the 20/20 account balance "at your discretion," even by building it back up over multiple years.

Commissioners batted around ideas for replenishing the fund at the workshop session. A board consensus emerged to have County Manager Roger Desjarlais put together a plan that would fund a $40 million balance plus $8 million as a fund cushion.

The concept of a base balance plus $8 million was proposed by Commissioner Larry Kiker who said it would allow the county to plan 20/20 spending a year ahead.

"We need a predictable funding source that occurs on an annual basis based on last year's expenditure," Kiker said. "The tendency is to not 'put enough money in there,' (or) to 'put too much money in there,' both of them are what we want to avoid."

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Barbara Manzo, of the group Eyes on 20/20, is worried that changes in philosophy for the county's 20/20 program may be at hand.(Photo: NEWS-PRESS STAFF FILE PHOTO/ANDREW WEST)

In recent months, meetings of the Conservation Land Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Committee, which oversees recommendations for land acquisition, have been canceled.

The county has been unable to reach purchase agreements on two parcels and the state Legislature did not appropriate money for a Harmony Ranch Estates site in Lehigh Acres.

Commissioners will be asked next month to give the staff authority negotiating a purchase price for the 457-acre site. The property is a former lime rock mine that was the site of a large planned development before the Great Recession.

It has a significant conservation role as a filter march to help the county meet state and federal mandates to restore polluted waterways.

More than two-dozen additional parcels are in the process of being evaluated for possible purchase. One is a 68-acre site on Sanibel Island considered a possible wildlife corridor for the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

According to the county, that parcel is zoned for 29 single family homes.

Much of the cushion left in the 20/20 fund could be used for maintenance work on conservation properties.

Taking care of the 20/20 property is a growing issue, especially with the addition of the Edison Farms site. After decades of farming, the property needs reconstruction to restore its natural state.

"I have always been a believer that it ought to be more than buying them, cleaning them up and setting them aside for the squirrels and the woodpeckers," said Commissioner Frank Mann. "To the extent we can have low-impact visitations, hiking trails, horse trails, bicycling trails, I would like to do it.”

Making additional acquisitions could be an issue at a time when the county commission has cleared some potential barriers to development in the largely rural eastern end of the county.

Most recently, the commission voted 4-1 to eliminate a county land plan requirement that an overriding public necessity exists before some changes in land use can be approved. But commissioners have supported acquisitions to the east; about a year ago they voted to buy sites in North Fort Myers and Alva.

County Manager Roger Desjarlais to devise a plan along the lines of Kiker's suggestion, to bring the fund to $40 million plus a 20 percent override.

The watchdogs say they'll have an eye out for what happens next.

"It’s a very complex issue. It is not about replenishing the fund, it's about the philosophy about what the fund is there to do," Manzo said. "Our big concern is that they are going to stall and not purchase."